US6700961B1 - Prepaid calling with warning announcement - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and arrangement for providing prepaid calling card services to a calling party is disclosed. Near the end of value of a prepaid calling card account, the calling and called parties to a connection are split and the calling party is given the opportunity to increase the value of his or her prepaid calling card account. If the account is increased the call continues using the increased value. Alternatively, if the account is not increased the connection is dropped.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to Intelligent Network Telecommunications and particularly to calling card services via such a network.

Calling card services are used in telecommunication systems primarily as a means to affect the billing for services. For example, a standard calling card may be used to change the party or account charged for the cost of a telephone call. Usually the change involves actually charging and billing an account represented by the calling card rather than an account represented by the calling telephone. Debit or prepaid calling cards may also be used to pay for telecommunication services. With a prepaid calling card the user prepays an amount of money to establish a card balance and as services are used the balance is decreased. When the balance becomes zero or less than the cost of a requested service the service is not provided or, if ongoing, it is terminated. When the service being provided is a telephone connection between parties the expiration of the prepaid calling card balance results in the termination of the connection. A need exists in the art for an improved manner of providing services from a prepaid calling card and particularly in the manner of terminating prepaid calling card services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and method in accordance with the present invention announces the expected termination of a prepaid calling card before call termination. As such, the call originator and call terminator have the opportunity to close a conversation before the call connection is dropped. Additionally, and advantageously, the call originator may be given the opportunity to change the billing account for the call so that the conversation can continue based on a new prepaid amount. In accordance with the embodiments, the change of billing may result in changing billing from one prepaid calling card account to another or it may result in adding value to an existing prepaid account by means such as a credit card.

As described herein the parties to a prepaid calling card account are not just cut off when the prepaid amount is used up but the connection between the parties is split and a call originator is given the opportunity to change the prepaid amount available to continue the connection.

A method as described later herein comprises establishing in an Intelligent Telecommunication Network, a value identifying a prepaid amount for telephone services, establishing a connection between a call originator and a call terminator and timing a connection established. When the timing represents that the value has, or nearly has, been used up to pay for the connection, the connection is split and a warning tone or announcement is delivered to the call originator. Such a warning tone or announcement may also be delivered to the call terminator. Advantageously, the call originator may be given the opportunity to add value to the prepaid account by means of a credit card or by changing the billing account to another prepaid calling card.

Such conveniences are provided in a system comprising a service switching point of the call originator and a service control point of the telecommunication Intelligent Network. The service switching point collects digits necessary to identify the call terminator and to associate the call with a prepaid account against which the call is to be charged. The service control point receives the digits from the service switching point, associates the proper account with the requested connection and begins to time the connection against the associated prepaid account. When the account is used up (its value becomes 0) or nearly so, the service control point directs the service switching point to split the existing connection, connect a digit receiver and play an announcement to the call originator. The call originator may then dial digits defining another prepaid account against which to charge the existing connection. The service switching point then receives the digits and forwards them to the service control point which, in response thereto, associates the another prepaid account with the connection and reestablishes the connection between call originator and call terminator. Alternatively, the call originator, upon receiving the announcement of expiring prepaid calling card may dial digits defining a credit card which should be charged to provide additional value to the existing prepaid calling card account. After adding value, the service control point directs the service switching point to reconnect the call originator and call terminator and times the connection against the augmented value of the prepaid card account.

When operating as herein described, call originators can avoid being abruptly cut off from ongoing communications and are given opportunities to extend the communication by providing an account of additional value against which the communication can be charged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing a telecommunication Intelligent Network;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a prepaid calling card service with warning announcement; and

FIG. 3 shows a message sequence for an embodiment.

DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing a toll call between acall originator101 and acall terminator103.Call originator101 is connected to alocal telephone switch105 which operates in the manner well known in the art to receive signaling fromcall originator101, to provide announcements to calloriginator101 and to provide basic telephone connection services to the call originator.Telephone switch105 is sometimes referred to as a service switch point or SSP.Telephone switch105, which may for example be a No. 5ESS, is also connected to atoll network107 and to one or more service control points (SCP) represented by SCP109 which is also connected to thetoll network107 and other service switching points such as111 which provide telephone service to the other subscribers such as callterminator103.

In FIG. 1, SCP109 represents the intelligence and stored data of the Intelligent Network. Theservice control point109 includes program and data which assist theSSPs105 and111 in providing extended services to the subscribers connected to them. For example, when calloriginator101 wants to connect to callterminator103, the originator sends calling digits identifying thecall terminator103 to the SSP105 which collects the digits and interprets them as defining a toll call. SSP105 then forwards the collected digits to the Intelligent Network SCP109 and requests a connection to the party identified by the collected digits. TheSCP109 identifies a path through thetoll network107 betweenSSP105 and SSP111 and notifies SSPs of the expected connection to call betweencall originator101 andterminator103. SSP111 responds to the possible connection by checking the status ofcall terminator103. If callterminator103 is in use, SSP111 notifies theSCP109 which, in turn, notifiesSSP105 that callterminator103 is in use. SSP105 then sends the well known busy signal to calloriginator101. When thecall terminator103 is not in use SSP111 sends a ringing signal to it and notifies SSP103 of the ringing via SCP109. When callterminator103 is not answered the ringing signals continue until calloriginator101 hangs up. At hang-up the SCP109 and SSP111 are notified, all signaling stops and the identified toll network path is released for use by other connections. Alternatively, when call terminator answers theSCP109 is notified and control signals are sent to thetoll network107 and SSP105 to complete the talking connection between thecall originator101 and thecall terminator103. BothSSP105 and SSP111 monitor the status of the connection and when either calloriginator101 or thecall terminator103 go on hook notice is sent to theSCP109 which directsSSP105,SSP111 and toll network to drop the connection.

The network intelligence of the SCP109 is also used to accumulate information from which subscriber billing can be created. The SCP109 includes data representing the cost of calling for a plurality of subscribers such as calloriginator101. When an originator paid toll call is placed, the SCP109 computes the cost per time of the call for the originator and then times the duration of the call. At call completion, a value is stored in a file associated with the call originator and representing the total cost of the recently completed call as well as other prior calls billed to the call originator.

Other types of call payment are also administered by theSCP109. For example, prepaid debit cards or calling cards are available which can be purchased for predetermined dollar amounts. Such prepaid calling cards may be purchased for $10, $20, $50 or other value and may have a preset calling rate such as 10 cents or 15 cents per minute. The prepaid calling card does not in fact represent an amount of money available to the purchaser at the moment of use but instead represents the identity of an account stored in the telephone network. When a prepaid calling card is purchased, the selling party must first “validate” the card. The act of validation establishes a money value file (account) on an SCP of the intelligent network represented by SCP109 in FIG.1. That is, the value of services due to a purchaser of a prepaid card is represented by a data file in an SCP and not by the card itself. The card and codes printed thereon are used to associate the user of the card with the money valued data file.

When a call is placed using a prepaid calling card, the initial dialing of calling card digits associates the call with a particular money valued data file of the Intelligent Network as represented by SCP109. The call is completed normally, however, instead of accumulating costs to be charged later to the user, the ongoing costs of the connection are “subtracted” from the value of the associated data file until the data file represents no more value. At this point, the connection associated with the call is dropped and no readily available arrangement of continuing the connection exists.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram representing the interaction between anSSP105 of acall originator101 and anintelligent network SCP109 in the completion of a prepaid calling card call. The flow begins with ablock201 which represents the steps necessary to establish a prepaid calling card call based on an account value stored inSCP109. The processes ofblock201 are well known in the art and are not described further herein. When the call connection is completed the cost per unit time is known and theSCP109 computes in block203 a total time available based on the value of the prepaid account. A timer is then started inblock205 for a period of time equal to or somewhat shorter than the maximum calculated time. In the present example, the timer is set to a time20 seconds short of the maximum time. Astep207 is then repetitively performed to determine whether the time has timed out. Additionally, ablock209 is performed while the timer is running to identify if one or more of the parties have gone on hook or the connection has been otherwise disconnected. When a disconnect is deleted inblock209 the process continues by calculating inblock211 the cost of the call up the disconnect and subtracting that cost from the prepaid account associated for the current call with thecall originator101. Afterstep211 the billing is ended and the adjusted account value is available for a subsequent connection. In the preceding description the timer and disconnect detection were shown performed as process loops. Other methods may also be used such as hardware or software timers and disconnect identifiers which interrupt or otherwise notify a call process upon the occurrence of an event.

When a time out is detected inblock207 indicating that the calling card amount is near zero, ablock215 is performed to split thecall originator101 and callterminator103 connection inSSP105 and a tone or other announcement is played inblock217 bySSP105 to calloriginator101. Advantageously, thecall terminator103 is kept on hold. The tone or announcement inblock217 calls for a response from thecall originator101 to provide new prepayment value against which future parts of the connection (or subsequent connections) may be charged. In the present example, a simple distinct tone is played to which a knowledgeable user responds by pressing the pound (#) key, or any other predetermined key, if alternative payment is to be made. The pound key press is detected inblock219 and flow proceeds to block221 to identify a source of new prepayment value. An announcement may be played inblock221 in response to the pound key to guide the user through the options for providing new payment value. In oneoption223a, the call originator provides the identify of another prepaid calling card account which is to be substituted for the about-to-expire account. Alternatively (223b), the call originator may provide a credit card number and an amount of money by which to increase the existing prepaid calling card account. After either block223aor223bhas been accepted flow proceeds to block225 where the connection in progress is coupled to the new prepaid value account for continued payment. The flow then returns to block203 where a timer is set based on the new value and the call continues as before. When the call originator does not respond to the tone (announcement) ofblock217, flow proceeds fromblock219 to block229 where the parties are reconnected for the approximately 20 seconds remaining on the original prepaid calling card account. At the end of the short reconnect period the timer times out and the call is terminated with an announcement inblock231.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of warning tone service using Intelligent Network Application Party Capability Set2. FIG. 3 is arranged as a message sequence “ladder” to show the messages flowing betweenSSP105 andSCP109 to implement the intelligent network service. The first three messages represented atlines301,303 and305 consist of Initial DP service key (Initial Detection Point), Req Rep BCSME oDisconnect-R (Request Report Basic Call State Machine), and connection (Destination Routing Address) use the expected messages for setting up the stable two-party talking path represented at307. It is assumed that EDP (Event Detection Point)-9B is armed for the stable call.

When the prepaid billing timer inSCP109 times out (block207, FIG. 2) SplitLeg operation is sent (309) to theSSP105 directing that the stable call be split and that the passive party, i.e., callterminator103, be placed on hold. The splitting of the parties puts the connection from theSSP105 to thecall originator101 in call segment1 (CS1) and the connection fromSSP105 to thecall terminator103 in call segment2 (CS2). While the split state continues, a CTR (Connect to Resource), PACUI (Prompt and Collect User Info) and PA (Play Announcement) are sent311 to call segment1 to notify and to collect new billing information from the call originator. If it is desired to advise thecall terminator103 of the call status, a CTR and PA may also be sent to call segment2 to provide the announcement. Once the call originator digits have been collected and a proper prepaid billing account established for the call, a Merge Call Segments operation (313) identifying both the originating caller and the terminating caller is sent toSSP109. In response to the Merge Call Segments operation, the parties are rejoined to continue with a stable talking path.

It is understood that the above described embodiments are merely descriptive of the principles of the invention and that many variations may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing form the scope of the invention. It is intended that such variations be included within the scope of the claims.

Claims (16)

What is claimed is:

1. A method of providing prepaid telephone service using a prepaid telephone card in a telephone system comprising a local telephone switch and an intelligent network control point, the method comprising:

storing in the control point a value identifying a prepaid amount for telephone services;

establishing a communication connection between a call originator and a call terminator;

timing by the control point the duration of the communication connection to a first duration less than the duration represented by the prepaid amount;

providing a warning tone to the originator based on the timed duration of the communication connection by splitting the connection between the call originator and the call terminator, and transmitting a warning tone to the call originator;

updating the prepaid amount based on originator interaction by receiving information from the call originator identifying another prepaid account stored in the control point; and

restarting the timing based on the updated prepaid account.

2. A method in accordance withclaim 1 comprising delivering an announcement to the call originator directing prepaid amount increase options.

3. A method in accordance withclaim 1 comprising:

placing the call terminator in a hold state while the connection is split.

4. A method in accordance withclaim 3 comprising delivering an announcement to the call terminator while in the h old state.

5. A method in accordance withclaim 1 comprising timing the duration of the communication connection based upon the another prepaid amount.

6. A method in accordance withclaim 1 wherein the updating of the prepaid amount comprises receiving a direction from the call originator to increase the amount of prepaid telephone service.

7. A method in accordance withclaim 6 comprising timing the duration of the communication based on the increased amount for telephone services.

8. A method in accordance withclaim 6 wherein the direction received from the call originator comprises a credit card number.

9. A method in accordance withclaim 6 wherein the direction received from the call originator comprises a debit card number.

10. A method of providing prepaid telephone service using a prepaid telephone card in a telephone system comprising a local telephone switch and an intelligent network control point, the method comprising:

storing in the control point at a location associated with a first prepaid account, a value identifying a first prepaid amount for telephone services;

establishing a communication connection between a call originator and a call terminator;

timing by the control point the duration of the communication connection to a first duration less than the duration represented by the first prepaid amount;

providing a warning tone to the originator based on the timed duration of the communication connection;

receiving from originator interaction, information identifying a second prepaid account, the second account having a value identifying a second prepaid amount; and

restarting the timing based on the second prepaid account.

11. A method in accordance withclaim 10 wherein the providing a warning tone comprises:

splitting the connection between the call originator and the call terminator; and

transmitting a warning tone to the call originator.

12. A method in accordance withclaim 11 comprising delivering an announcement to the call originator directing prepaid amount increase options.

13. A method in accordance withclaim 11 comprising:

placing the call terminator in a hold state while the connection is split.

14. A method in accordance withclaim 13 comprising delivering an announcement to the call terminator while in the hold state.

15. A method in accordance withclaim 10 comprising timing the duration of the communication connection based upon the second prepaid amount.

16. A method in accordance withclaim 10 wherein the identity of the second value comprises the identity of a prepaid calling card.

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